Waterlands

UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN

Summer flounderShoulder season

Bar · Massachusetts

Dumpling Rocks

41.54°N · 70.92°W · Bar · Buzzards Bay

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 6 AM · Summer flounder

77/100Great
Now
607 PM EDT
Best window
7-10 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing2.7 ft ▼

Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine

Notify me when Dumpling Rocks scores 75+

Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.

Sign in to set an alert

24-hour conditions

Sunday, Oct 4 · 6 AM

Time6A
Score35Fair
Tide1.3 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.7 kn · toward S
Wind4 kn SSWgusts 8 · steady
Air temp61°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water64°FPersisted

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Summer flounder is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with MassDMF before you keep a fish.

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Summer flounder is best here

Shoulder season for Summer flounder · 1 more week at shoulder

Summer flounder season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Summer flounder · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Summer flounder in Massachusetts

Spot profile

Dumpling Rocks

Depth
10-40 ftSlope
Structure
Ledge · Outer · ExposedLedge · slope
Season
Shoulder seasonSummer flounder

NOAA NCEI DEM, sampled Sep 13 on a 3.4 m grid. Depths are feet below NAVD 88, not chart datum (MLLW), so they can differ from a chart by a few feet. Not for navigation.

About this spot

Fishing Dumpling Rocks

Dumpling Rocks is a bar in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. Depth is 10-40 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads ledge, outer water and exposed.

Waterlands scores 10 species here; the best right now are little tunny, scup and black sea bass. It is peak season now for little tunny, scup, black sea bass and bluefish, and shoulder season for tautog and summer flounder. Little tunny peak from September through October. Scup peak from June through September. Black sea bass peak from June through July and in September.

Tackle & technique

Summer flounder
Summer flounder lie half-buried on sand and shell bottom and ambush bait along channel edges, inlet bars and ocean reefs, from a few feet deep in back bays to about 100 feet offshore. Drift with the tide and bounce a bucktail tipped with a squid or fish strip along the bottom. The bigger fish move to ocean reefs and wrecks in late summer, so follow them out.
Little tunny
Little tunny travel fast in schools that pin bait against inlets, points, jetties and tide rips, usually within a few miles of shore and often in less than 60 feet. Stay off the school's path, wait for it to surface within range, and cast small metal or epoxy jigs with a fast retrieve. When fish stay down, troll small feathers along bait edges and color changes to find them.
Scup
Scup school over hard and mixed bottom, rock piles, mussel beds, piers and jetties, usually in 10 to 60 feet of water. Fish a high-low rig with small hooks and squid or clam strips on the bottom, and chum with clam to hold a school under the boat. If nothing bites within 15 minutes, move to the next piece of structure.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Round Hill Point

    Cape · 0.4 mi

    77
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 77
    • Striped bass 77
    • Bluefish 71

    5 kt NEL 11:33 PM · 0.9 ftH 5:19 AM · 2.9 ft

  • Lazy Rocks

    Bar · 1.1 mi

    77
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 77
    • Little tunny 76
    • Black sea bass 73

    5 kt NEL 11:33 PM · 0.9 ftH 5:19 AM · 2.9 ft

  • Ragged Rocks

    Bar · 0.6 mi

    74
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 74
    • Scup 74
    • Black sea bass 72

    5 kt NEL 11:33 PM · 0.9 ftH 5:19 AM · 2.9 ft

  • The Sandspit

    Bar · 0.7 mi

    74
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 74
    • Bluefish 72
    • Striped bass 70

    5 kt NEL 11:33 PM · 0.9 ftH 5:19 AM · 2.9 ft

Scores and forecasts are for planning only and can be wrong. Conditions on the water change fast; check the marine forecast before you go. Regulations change during the season, so confirm limits and closures with MassDMF before you keep a fish.